A faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and an adviser in the College of Education will receive the 2006 Outstanding Adviser/Mentor Award.
The award is presented to recognize faculty and staff members for excellence in advising undergraduate students on selection of classes and course of study, assisting them with academic problems and providing guidance on related matters such as graduate school and careers.
This year’s recipients are Sidney Thompson, the U.H. Davenport Professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department, and Frieda Thornton, a program specialist in the elementary and social sciences education department.
Thompson won the award for a tenured or tenure-track faculty member. He advises about 25 students per term and coordinates the department’s cooperative education program. He was chosen as this year’s Outstanding Adviser in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and has been selected Teacher of the Year nine times by students in his department.
A faculty member in the college since 1980, Thompson teaches primarily in mechanics and structural design.
Thornton, who has been academic adviser for undergraduates majoring in early childhood education for 16 years, advises every undergraduate in early childhood-about 250 students each term. She is the department liaison with almost 30 schools that provide field experience for students and visits each school each term.
Thornton, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from UGA, was chosen the College of Education’s 2006 Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Adviser.
Thompson and Thornton will receive a cash award and plaque, and will be recognized at Honors Day and at the Faculty Recognition Banquet.
Nominations for the adviser/mentor award are made by deans of UGA’s schools and colleges. Winners are chosen by a committee that is made up of a majority of students and also includes previous winners and adviser administrators.